UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) vs. ING Group (NYSE:ING) Critical Contrast

ING Group (NYSE:ING) and UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Dividends

ING Group pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. UniCredit pays an annual dividend of $0.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. ING Group pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

ING Group has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniCredit has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ING Group and UniCredit, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ING Group	0	0	5	0	3.00
UniCredit	0	2	0	3	3.20

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ING Group and UniCredit”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ING Group	$24.47 billion	3.11	$5.77 billion	$2.17	11.15
UniCredit	$48.38 billion	2.37	$10.52 billion	N/A	N/A

UniCredit has higher revenue and earnings than ING Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

4.5% of ING Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of UniCredit shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares ING Group and UniCredit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ING Group	27.28%	11.62%	0.58%
UniCredit	23.20%	16.41%	1.31%

Summary

UniCredit beats ING Group on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ING Group

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts. It also offers business lending products; SME loans; consumer lending products, such as residential mortgage loans and other consumer lending loans; and mortgages. In addition, the company provides working capital solutions; debt and equity market solutions; various loans; payments; and cash management, trade and corporate finance, and treasury services, as well as savings, investment, insurance, and digital banking services. It serves individual customers, corporate clients, and financial institutions. ING Groep N.V. was founded in 1762 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

About UniCredit

UniCredit S.p.A. provides commercial banking services in Italy, Germany, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. It offers retail, private, and wealth management solutions; and institutional investor solutions. The company also provides corporate finance advisory, rating advisory, financial sponsor, patient capital, capital structure advisory, and finance solutions, as well as securities services. In addition, it offers transactional and risk management, and strategic advisory and funding services; group trade and correspondent banking services; and payments and cash management solutions. The company serves SME, corporate, multinational corporate, financial institution, and public sector clients, as well as retail, private banking, wealth management, and family office clients. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.